If Trump wants peace, he must block Israel’s annexationist policies.
Daniel C. Kurtzer,
A former U.S. ambassador to Egypt and Israel, and Aaron David Miller, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich displays a map of an area near the settlement of Maale Adumim, a land corridor known as E1, outside Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank.Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich displays a map of an area near the settlement of Maale Adumim, a land corridor known as E1, outside Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank, on Aug. 14. Photo by Menahem Kahana / AFP
Celebrations are surely in order as a cease-fire goes into effect in Gaza, the hostages are returned, and humanitarian relief gets delivered to the Palestinian civilian population. U.S. President Donald Trump and his envoys deserve kudos for producing a deal that was on the table for more than a year but which eluded the parties. Palestinians and Israelis deserve a chance to breathe.
It would be an opportunity wasted, however, to fall back into diplomatic self-satisfaction and lose momentum. Even if this phase of the Gaza deal is implemented properly—and that is not a given, in view of the deep suspicions harbored by the parties—dangers elsewhere are growing. Indeed, without a firmer Trump administration hand to slow Israel’s annexationist policies there, hopes of broadening a Gaza agreement into anything close to regional peace could easily die.
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